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Staining furniture means sanding meticulously through 80-120-150-180, degreasing with Cellulose Thinners, wiping Light Fast Stain on with a lint-free cloth in fast strokes along the grain, then sealing with a wax, a shellac or a varnish. The stain dries in 10 to 15 minutes and a second coat deepens the colour. It protects nothing: without a top coat it rubs off under the hand. On pine, a water stain first prevents blotching.
Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France woodcare specialists
Before you start
The commonest confusion is here: a wood stain is not a coloured varnish. It puts dyes into the fibres and gives no protection at all. A stained piece left as it is gets dirty, marks and loses its colour with rubbing. So two products are always needed: the stain, then a clear finish on top — a wax, a shellac, a varnish.
For furniture, the Light Fast Stains are the starting point: spirit-based micro-dyes that dry in 10 to 15 minutes, do not raise the grain and resist UV light. They intermix, and dilute with Light Fast thinners to lighten. Sixteen colours, from White to Black by way of the oaks, Walnut, Teak and the mahoganies. The other ranges — water stains, Nitrostain, Earth Stain — are compared in Choosing a wood stain.
The method
A stain acts as a magnifying glass: the slightest sanding swirl, the slightest scratch shows the moment the dye hits the wood. Follow the grit sequence, always along the grain, skipping no step. This is the move that decides the result.
The wood must be chemically clean: wipe over with Cellulose Thinners or pure turpentine on a cloth, then vacuum and finish with a tack cloth.
The same stain is darker on beech than on oak, redder on mahogany. Try it somewhere hidden, let it dry 10 to 15 minutes, and put a little of the intended finish over it: the finish gives the final colour.
Light Fast Stain on a clean lint-free cloth or a sponge, in fast, continuous strokes along the grain, one whole face at a time. Overlap the previous stroke slightly to avoid banding. To lighten, dilute with Light Fast thinners.
The alcohol base dries extremely rapidly and does not swell the fibres. Once the first coat is dry, a second gives a deeper look. Stop when the colour of your test is reached.
On furniture, the stain is sealed with wax, shellac or varnish. A water-based finish does not go straight onto a Light Fast Stain: apply a barrier coat of 2000 Pale Shellac Sealer Basecoat first.
Wax Clear or a tinted wax applied sparingly and buffed along the grain; or 2 to 5 coats of 2000 Pale Shellac Sealer; or a varnish. Once sealed, the stain is cared for like the finish chosen.
Four pieces
01
Beech, close-grained and without figure, takes stain very evenly: Light Fast Stain Walnut gives it the depth of walnut without any blotching. Two coats 10 to 15 minutes apart, then a French polish on the top, which gives the wood back a warm gloss.
02
Pine blotches under a spirit stain: the soft zones drink, the hard zones resist. On a pine chest, a water stain first — Water Stain Antique Pine No. 3, the classic — evens the ground. It raises the grain slightly: wet, let dry, de-nib before staining. Then Wax Stripped Pine.
03
Open-pored oak keeps its figure under a stain: Light Fast Stain Dark Oak darkens the ground and leaves the medullary rays light, as on an old piece. A well-wrung cloth, one face at a time, never going back. Sealed with Wax Dark Oak, the sideboard looks a century old.
04
Pale, very open-pored ash, stained Light Fast Stain Black: the grain stays legible in the black, like an engraving. Two coats for a full black, then a barrier coat of 2000 Pale Shellac Sealer and a varnish for a top that can be washed. Ebonised wood without the ebony.
The ranges
Four Mylands ranges, all in 250 ml, all intermixable within their range, none of them a finish. On furniture, the finish is a wax, a shellac or a varnish.
| Range | Base and drying | The grain | Finish on top |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light Fast Stain | Spirit, 10 to 15 minutes; UV light-fast | Non-grain raising (NGR) | Wax, shellac, varnish; shellac barrier coat before a water-based finish |
| Water Stain | Water, light-fast dyes, good transparency | Raises the grain slightly: wet, dry, de-nib | Wax, shellac, varnish; the first coat on softwoods that blotch |
| Nitrostain | Solvent blend, for furniture | Non-grain raising (NGR) | Varnish, shellac, wax |
| Earth Stain | Designer palette, thinned with Earth Stain Thinners | Depends on the timber | Varnish, shellac, wax on furniture; Mylac or Hard Wax Oil Natural on a floor |
On a floor, the finish on top is a Mylac or a Hard Wax Oil: see How to varnish a wooden floor.
To avoid
Frequently asked
A Light Fast Stain is dry in 10 to 15 minutes; a wax or a shellac can follow as soon as it is touch-dry and the solvent has gone. A water stain needs to be fully dry and de-nibbed. In doubt, wait a few hours: the stain no longer moves, and the finish holds all the better.
Before it goes on, yes: dilute the Light Fast Stain with Light Fast thinners for a lighter shade, or mix it with a paler colour from the range. Once on, a spirit stain is in the fibres; it has to be sanded back. Hence the test under the top.
All of them change it a little, which is why the test is done with stain and finish together. A clear wax (Wax Clear) changes it least; a shellac warms it; a tinted wax deepens it. Light Fast Stains resist UV, so the colour holds over time under the finish.
No: a stain has to go into bare wood. On a varnished or waxed piece, the old finish must come off and the wood be taken back to bare — see Removing old wax and varnish — then the 80-120-150-180 sanding starts again.
Yes, and a ventilated room: Light Fast Stains are spirit-based, Cellulose Thinners is a solvent. Soaked cloths are laid flat outdoors to dry. The detail in Oils, solvents and rags: working safely.
See also
“The stain gives the colour; the sanding decides whether it will be beautiful.”
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